the 500th post!!

So, it's the time of my blog where I tell my readers just how awesome this is to have a 500th post. I have made so many lifelong friends who I never would've known except for this wonderful world of blogging. I am so happy to know each and every one of you, and I count it as a privelege to call you guys friends.
God has changed my life in these 500 posts - drastically! Just go back and read my first post ever and you can see just how much my life has changed since May 2009. I was aware of change, but boy, if I could've only know how much my life would've changed I'm not sure I would've believed it :) There had always been within me this passion to be a missionary, but if I'd have known that in less than a year (of my first post) I would have told God yes to His will, which meant going overseas for a year to a country I barely knew existed, and to a continent that I had said no to so many times. Oh gosh, what a blessing it is to have this blog to see where God has brought me from. He has awakened a true love between Him and I, changed my heart about a people, and given me a boldness I never thought possible. I am so blessed - so, sooo blessed. I never knew a love like this existed, but He showed me just how He is in love with me, and how He wants more than anything for that love to mean life to me. Literally life. Like I know what it is now to live, to live for Him and no other! :)
Thank you so much - to each and every one of you - for praying with me and for me in these past 500 posts. They have truly touched my life in more ways than you could ever know. You guys have been the friends when I thought I had no one to turn to. When I couldn't exactly tell my family what was going on, or how i felt, you guys have stepped in as my family, and I am forever grateful for that. I have more moms than I ever thought possible, and more sisters than I could've ever wished for. When i began this blog in May 2009, I could've never seen just how much it would have been a part of my life. It makes me tear up just thinking about how different my life would've been had I not began this blog. Thank you so, sooo much my moms and sisters. Your comments over the months have changed my life. You have celebrated with me, mourned with, worshipped at the feet of Jesus with me, prayed fervently at His feet with me, and seen miracles right alongside me :) I truly love each and every one of you. and thank You, and you guys. I can't wait to see what comes next...

Natali